The inside scoop on food in Los Angeles

Scene Setter: Yxta

March 9, 2009 | 6:49
pm

We blogged about downtown's newest Latin restaurant, Yxta, before it opened. Today a larger story ran in the Calendar section. Interestingly, owner Jesse Gomez, who also owns Highland Park's El Arco Iris, says that when he was planning Yxta he had no idea that so many upscale Latin restaurants would be converging on downtown. Provecho, Rivera and Casa all opened fairly recently, but Yxta is a special case because it's on the industrial side of downtown (6th and Central) and has a pretty captive audience since the dining options in those parts are few.

A bit of trivia for you: The restaurant is named for the Loyola Law School professor and novelist Yxta Maya Murray. Gomez took a class from her and has held a fondness for the unusual name ever since.